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he listens

Job 30:1-31 (JDV)

Job 30:1 But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have rejected as tenders of my sheep dogs.
Job 30:2 What use to me was the strength of their hands? Their vigor was gone from them.
Job 30:3 Emaciated from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, the desolate wasteland by night.
Job 30:4 They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food.
Job 30:5 They were banished from human society; people shouted at them as if they were thieves.
Job 30:6 They are living on the slopes of the wadis, among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
Job 30:7 They bray among the shrubs; they huddle beneath the thistles.
Job 30:8 Stupid men, without even a name. They were forced to leave the land.
Job 30:9 Now I am mocked by their songs; I have become an object of scorn to them.
Job 30:10 They abhor me and keep their distance from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
Job 30:11 Because God has loosened my bowstring and oppressed me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.
Job 30:12 The rabble rise at my right; they trap my feet and construct their siege ramp against me.
Job 30:13 They tear up my path; they contribute to my destruction, without anyone to help them.
Job 30:14 They advance as through a gaping breach; they keep rolling in through the ruins.
Job 30:15 Terrors are turned loose against me; they chase my dignity away like the wind, and my prosperity has passed by like a cloud.
Job 30:16 Now my throat is poured out within me, and days of suffering have seized me.
Job 30:17 Night pierces my bones, but my gnawing pains never rest.
Job 30:18 My clothing is distorted with great force; he chokes me by the neck of my garment.
Job 30:19 He throws me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes.
Job 30:20 I cry out to you for help, but you do not answer me; when I stand up, you merely look at me.
Job 30:21 You have turned against me with cruelty; you harass me with your strong hand.
Job 30:22 You lift me up on the wind and make me ride it; you scatter me in the storm.
Job 30:23 Yes, I know that you will lead me to death — the place appointed for all who live.
Job 30:24 Yet no one would send out his hand against a ruined person when he cries out to him for help because of his distress.
Job 30:25 Have I not wept for those who have fallen on hard times? Has my throat not grieved for the needy?
Job 30:26 But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness came.
Job 30:27 I am churning within and cannot rest; days of suffering confront me.
Job 30:28 I walk about darkened, but not by the sun. I stood in the assembly and cried out for help.
Job 30:29 I have become a brother to jackals and a companion of ostriches.
Job 30:30 My skin darkens and flakes off, and my bones burn with fever.
Job 30:31 My lyre is used for mourning and my flute to make the sound of weeping.

he listens

What we hear in this chapter is the prayer of a man who is used to being honest with his creator. He has been humbled and has suffered unjustly and he is not just sitting around quoting worship songs. He is disappointed, and that is OK. God is a big guy. He can take it. Our Father would rather hear our honest complaints than the highest praise coming from an insincere heart.

LORD, thank you for listening when we vent. Thank you for hearing how we feel, and still caring for us.